The pattern was not changed. The randomization of the pattern was. Reaper fires in 3 rings. He shoots 20 pellets. 1 pellet goes in the center, 7 go in the center ring and the final 12 go in the outer ring. These pellets are allowed to deviate a little, the PTR changes meant that the deviation is now harsher and they cannot deviate as much, meaning luck is less likely to influence your shots, making it more consistent. This means he is more consistently bad, and therefore it’s a nerf.

How to maximize reaper damage at mid range
Shoot slightly to the side of the target so you hit him with both inner and outer ring.
Havn’t tested but in theory this would work.
Still hope they change it.

It’s hard to explain. I encourage you to try for yourself and do a small test sample of about 10 kills on PTR and live.

Oh im not saying you’re wrong. I think this is really interesting actually. I wonder how it plays out with more testing. If the spread is more consistent, I mean logically you can produce a scenario where that wouldnt be a good thing.

I guess my question is how often is it a bad thing? I’m guessing not very often, but thats just a guess.